Emotional response as a predictor of compliance‐gaining message selection

Abstract

The present study builds on Hunter and Boster's model of compliance‐gaining by adding conceptual and operational definitions of emotional response and by providing a theoretical framework for understanding relationships between emotional response and message selection. Specifically, Russell's (1978) and Mehrabian's (1980) three dimensional model of emotional response is offered to clarify the key concept—emotion. A measurement tool designed to tap the dimensions of pleasure, arousal, and dominance is used to test two hypotheses that seek to: (a) define the relative importance of the predicted emotional response of the selector and listener for compliance‐gaining message selection: and (b) define the relative importance of each dimension of the selector's predicted emotional response on compliance‐gaining selection. As predicted the selector's level of pleasure was most related to compliance‐gaining selection.